GOVERNMENT
Types of Governments
Page #: 50
Date: 11/20
EQ: What is government?
What does it do? Why do
we need it?
GOVERNMENT
1. What is government?
2. What does a government do?
3. Why do people need government?
4. Who has authority or power in a
government? What is power?
5. What types of government
are there?
GOVERNMENT
1.What is
government?
GOVERNMENT
1. What is government?
•
•
•
Government is an organization people
set up to protect the community and
make rules
There is a leader or leaders in charge
There are rules or laws to follow
GOVERNMENT
2. What does a
government
do?
GOVERNMENT
2. What does a government do?
 Protects the community
 Makes laws
 Keeps or maintains order/peace
 Collects taxes to take care of
things (roads, public buildings,
postal service, military, schools)
GOVERNMENT
3. Why do
people need
government?
GOVERNMENT
3. Why do people need government?
 For protection of people and
property
 Making rules- to maintain order
 Enforcing laws- to ensure safety
 To have someone in charge of schools,
roads, military, etc.
 Without it= chaos, disorder, unsafe
GOVERNMENT
4. Who has
authority or
power in a
government? What
is power?
GOVERNMENT
4. Who has authority or power in a
government? What is power?
 The leader (king, president,
emperor)
 The leader’s “people” (assistants,
noblemen, aristocrats…)
 The citizens (by voting)
 Power is…..
GOVERNMENT
5. What types
of government
are there?
GOVERNMENT
5. What types of government
are there?
Common types are:
 Monarchy
Oligarchy
 Tyranny/Dictatorship
 Democracy/Republic
 Theocracy
Monarchy
 Power is in the hands of a king, queen,
emperor or empress.
 Royal Family The ruling position can be
passed on to the ruler’s children.
 In some traditional monarchies, the monarch
has absolute power (judges, leading army,
making laws)
 But a constitutional monarchy, like the UK,
also has a democratic government that limits
the monarch's control.
 Aristocrats or noblemen (the king’s “people”)
can help make decisions if he wants them to.
Oligarchy
 Oligarchy means “rule by a few”
 A government in which a few people have power
(political group, one social class, or one race –
Often times they are wealthy $$$)
 The Oligarchs care only about themselves.
 The make decisions to benefit their group and
many times are described as
“making the rich richer and
the poor poorer”.
Tyranny/Dictatorship
 A country ruled by a single leader
known as a Tyrant or Dictator.
 The leader has NOT been elected
and may use force to take and keep
control.
 The tyrant or dictator has all the
power over citizens’ lives and citizens
have no choices.
 Some tyrants made their supporters happy
and helped the poor. They did this so they
were not overthrown. Others were not so
kind.
Theocracy
 A form of government in which God (or the gods)
is the supreme ruler
 The leader is thought to serve through his “divine
right” and represent God on Earth
 The laws often come from the Holy Books/texts
that the religion of the culture follows



Examples:
The Pope in the Vatican City/Roman Catholic Church
Saudi Arabia is an Islamic Theocracy
Democracy
 In a democracy, the government is elected
by the people. Everyone who is eligible to
vote has a chance to have their say over
who runs the country. It is different from
governments controlled by a particular
social class or group
 A democracy is determined either directly
or through elected representatives.
Direct Democracy
 People vote directly on every issue
 Only practical in a small community
 This was the type of Democracy Athens
started
Representative Democracy
 People are represented by elected officials
 They vote for the person they think has
similar opinions or views as themselves.
 Used in large countries (Like the USA)
 Citizens have power and choices
 VERY similar to a Republic government
Republic
 A republic is a country with
elected representatives and
an elected head of state
who is not a monarch.
 The head of the country is
usually an elected
president.
 Citizens can vote and have
power. This is very similar
to a Representative
Democracy
Rome’s Republic
 Roman citizens were
divided into 3 classes:
Patricians, Plebeians,
and Slaves
 The plebeians were the
lower class & the patricians were
the wealthy upper class.
The Plebeians (poor) started a war to demand
their rights! We will talk more about this when
we study Rome.
Other Governments
 There are many other types of governments that
we will not study this year. Some common ones
we will not cover are:
 Theocracy- priests rule in the name of God who
is the ultimate authority, religious law
 Anarchy- NO government, disorder, usually after
a government fails before another one begins
 Communism- the state or country owns and
operates everything on behalf of the people.
People have no control.
1. NAME THAT GOVERNMENT:
The pharaoh was an absolute ruler. He commanded the
army and controlled irrigation and grain supplies. People in
this society considered the pharaoh to be a god.
1. NAME THAT GOVERNMENT:
The pharaoh was an absolute ruler. He commanded the
army and controlled irrigation and grain supplies. People in
this society considered the pharaoh to be a god.
Monarchy
2. NAME THAT GOVERNMENT
 In the first century AD, the Greeks recognized
three types of government: monarchy,
aristocracy, and anarchy. The Jews at the time
did not fit into any of these categories as they
believed only God and his laws were sovereign.
2. NAME THAT GOVERNMENT
 In the first century AD, the Greeks recognized
three types of government: monarchy,
aristocracy, and anarchy. The Jews at the time
did not fit into any of these categories as they
believed only God and his laws were sovereign.
Theocracy
3. NAME THAT GOVERNMENT:
In 450 B.C. this civilization assembled and all citizens voted
on laws. A council of 500 prepared business for the
assembly.
3. NAME THAT GOVERNMENT:
In 450 B.C. this civilization assembled and all citizens voted
on laws. A council of 500 prepared business for the
assembly.
Direct
Democracy
4. NAME THAT GOVERNMENT:
The Nazi Party took over every aspect of this country’s social,
economic & political life. Hitler quickly secured his power by
burning down a legislative building and used the incident to
obtain emergency powers, becoming an absolute ruler.
4. NAME THAT GOVERNMENT:
The Nazi Party took over every aspect of this country’s social,
economic & political life. Hitler quickly secured his power by
burning down a legislative building and used the incident to
obtain emergency powers, becoming an absolute ruler.
Dictatorship
5. NAME THAT GOVERNMENT:
In this country some people are elected to make laws and
some people are appointed officials.
5. NAME THAT GOVERNMENT:
In this country some people are elected to make laws and
some people are appointed officials.
Representative
Democracy